WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – It’s that time of year when people’s front and back yard turn into a treasure hunt with homeowners trying to unclutter.
It’s making for a lot to find at garage sales or items to be donated to thrift or resale stores.
For Michael Hardin, part of the joy is in discovery.
“Some of the best deals I found have been at garage sales because no only am I running one, I love to go to them myself,” said Hardin at his garage sale Sunday.
Items dispersed throughout the yard have become a traditional start to the summer for Hardin, his wife and friend. They started holding a yearly garage sale about five years ago.
“We just get together, kind of hang out and just try to have a little fun while having a garage sale,” he said.
They have plenty they’re looking to sell this year with the staple of books, clothes, jewelry housewares and furniture, including many lamps.
Hardin said, “The lamps, it’s kind of a hobby. We’ll buy them, we’ll use them for a while but as you can see a few of them are very unique and we buy them with the purpose of using them for six months, a year, however long and then the actual purpose is to resell them.”
In addition to trying to get people to come to peruse these items in person, they also use Facebook groups to reach more people.
Garage sales are keeping lots of shoppers busy, with dozens of homeowners each week getting city permits to host flea markets in their yard.
Hardin said, “The TV, got a slightly bigger one, so you know, get rid of the slightly smaller one because no room for it now.”
However, garage sales aren’t the only way people are trying to rehome their unwanted items.
It’s also been a busy time of year for the donation doors at Goodwill Industries of Kansas.
“Experiencing very typical donations for this time of year.” CEO and President of Goodwill Industries of Kansas Laura Ritterbush said, “It is garage sale season, and people are cleaning out their houses for spring cleaning, and so we typically see a higher volume of donations.”
Ritterbush said even with all the traffic for donations, that shouldn’t keep people away.
“We encourage people to continue donating, and while it may seem like we’re getting a lot on some days, that’s okay. We’ll manage through that, and we utilize some of those extra donations during the months that we don’t get as many,” said Ritterbush.
The items sold by Goodwill are critical to supporting other missions of the organization, including adult basic education classes and English as a second language.
Ritterbush said, “We process them and price them and sell them in our store floor so that we can then operate our mission programs and services in the communities where we have stores.”
Ritterbush said if people have questions about the items they accept for donation, to visit their website.
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